My interest in fossils was sparked by watching PBS as a child in rural central Wisconsin. I grew up surrounded by cornfields on the surface of the Great Unconformity and had to content myself by collecting fieldstones (soapstone and quartz). I initially wanted to study dinosaurs. I found my way to my present work through fateful statistics and isotope geochemistry classes that occurred in conjunction with encountering the Buckhorn Asphalt part of the Boggy Formation, in Oklahoma. I became interested in understanding the ecology of cephalopods by using geochemical methods.

I earned my B.S. at Bowling Green State University in Ohio and then moved back to Wisconsin to study in Madison. I earned my MS and PhD in geoscience from the University of Wisconsin, where I focused on applying in situ geochemistry to a variety of ecological questions related to modern and fossil cephalopods. I moved to Northwestern University to study ocean acidification as a postdoctoral fellow before returning to Madison for a second postdoctoral fellowship. In my spare time, I like to build things (home renovation), cook things (from sourdough to smoked meats to veggie burgers from scratch), and paint miniatures for tabletop gaming!

Download my curriculum vitae.